Remembering the Forgotten War: The Enduring Legacies of the U.S.-Mexican War

A Note on Perspectives

xv A NOTE ON PERSPECTIVES Like many authors writing about the U.S.–Mexican War, I am faced with the “American” dilemma. Much to the dismay of the many other nations that share the American continents, residents of the United States have long monopolized the term to describe themselves exclusively. This is particularly galling to Mexicans, who also consider themselves to be American. In the interest of historical context and in keeping with the spirit of this transnational study, I have chosen a compromise. When addressing the war from the perspective of the United States I use “American” to depict only that nation’s people. When I approach the conflict from the Mexican viewpoint I use the term “North American.”While North America technically includes Canada, Mexico, and the United States, historically Mexicans have used the term to denote the United States and its citizens. Another difference in the perspectives of the two nations is the many names attributed to the war. There is great power and symbolism in the naming of world events, and both nations have used that authority to their advantage . In the United States the conflict was simply called the Mexican War for many decades. During the 1970s Americans commonly adopted the name Mexican–American War. The Mexican primacy in both of these names implied Mexican belligerence, and they have been phased out. More recently, the term “U.S.–Mexican War” has come to dominate the academic literature . Mexicans originally referred to the conflict variously as La Guerra del 47 (War of ’47), Guerra con los Estados Unidos, and Guerra contra los Norteamericanos. By the centennial of the war Mexicans had also adopted the names Intervención Estadounidense en México and Guerra de la Intervenci ón Norteamericana, which continue in common use today. Because of this diverse terminology I use a variety of names, depending on the nation and historical context being addressed. From the perspective of time, the span of years I selected for the book, 1848–2008, requires explanation. The year 1848 represents the termination of the U.S.–Mexican War. The production of wartime media served a very different end than that created during the subsequent peace. This book xvi A Note on Perspectives therefore excludes the literature, art, music, and other artifacts of memory created during the conflict itself. This is not to say that memory artifacts from 1846–47 are entirely out of bounds: they appear when necessary, especially in the context of comparisons. The book concludes 160 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 2008. This year not only represents a significant war anniversary but also marks a modern crossroads in U.S.–Mexican relations. Finally, as a U.S. citizen I would be remiss to assert complete objectivity in this book. My ancestors were among the first Americans to settle in the Mexican north as it fell to the United States. Consequently, I have spent the vast majority of my life living in lands that were once part of Mexico, fully enjoying the fruits of conquest. I have also spent many years living in border towns, where my perspective has been indelibly shaped by the culture clash and accommodation that characterize this vibrant middle ground. I have nonetheless sought to maintain a professional distance from my experiences in analyzing and presenting the multiple perspectives of this divisive war. REMEMBERING THE FORGOTTEN WAR “This page intentionally left blank” ...